In September, Ear Spring did more than expunge water and steam from the bowels of the earth. Instead, a fountain of garbage dating back decades was blown more than 30 feet into the air, landing around the perimeter of the active aperture. Evidently, tourists have been tossing their own waste and unwanted items into the active crate for years. It was as if Hell decided to regift some of the trash it's been receiving all this time.

Oddly enough, the park remarked that some of the projectiles were indeed really historic finds that would pique the interest of collectors. Listed among the weirdly-returned items were bottles, cans, coins, cigarette butts, plastic cups and utensils, a concrete block, Kodak film packages and even a baby's pacifier that was popular during the 1930s.

Not since 1957 has Ear Spring blown so high, although this is the first time garbage was discovered in the scalding water vaulted skyward. More philosophical types might see such thermal activity as a sign that Mother Nature is cleaning house beneath the Earth's surface, but park officials state that the trash eruption serves as a warning to tourists who want to use geysers as disposal units.

While Ear Spring hasn't popped out any material more suitable for a landfill since September, park officials indicated that activity of nearby geysers like the ones at Doublet Pool and North Goggles has increased over the weeks. However, they claim that geysers do vary in levels of thermal intensity and such changes are rather common.

Officials at the national park also claim the recent garbage-spewing incident at Ear Spring and events concerning neighboring geysers are not signs of impending volcanic activity. That reference has to do with concerns over a potential eruption that scientists claim could be 2,000 times that of Mount St. Helens, the volcano that erupted in the state of Washington in 1980, killing 57 people.